Pictures from John's walks and more ...
Critter pics ...
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| A Common Merganser Haven't seen them for months, so I'm guessing they are back from wherever they spend their winter. |
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| A Red-faced Cormorant drying its wings. Not a great capture, but does seem majestic. To see more blogs featuring critters, check out Saturday's Critters |
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| The Canada Goose is one I see often. Sometimes, I like to stop and say Hello a few times. Most do not seem afraid of humans. |
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| Last year's nest may be under consideration for these two crows. Same tree, but different days. |
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| Really got a stare from this black crow. |
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| Recent photos of one of my hummer visitors at home. This is the same bird, a male Anna's hummingbird. Movement of feathers changes appearance dramatically. |
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| A two legged critter taking photographs. I like the use of a tripod but it's just too much to carry along on my walks. |
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| Three two legged critters rolling along on the trail. Note the young lady in brown is capturing the fun with her smartphone. |
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| A two legged critter on a Jet Ski. I see this critter often, early in the mornings, coming into downtown from the north, so I'm guessing this might be his method of avoiding traffic on the roads. |
Not to be missed critters ...
Although definitely not something I saw on my walks, I had to share a YouTube I happened to see online. Passengers aboard the National Geographic Endurance encountered a pod of hundreds of whales. It's pretty amazing.
Massive Pod of Several Hundred Fin Whales
When a massive "superpod" of several hundred fin whales surrounds the ship, guests get close enough to get a whiff of the whales' exhalations. Video by Eric Wehrmeister aboard the National Geographic Endurance in Coronation Island, South Orkney Islands. If you're not familiar with where Coronation Island is, I placed a map for you below.
I love ships. Lots to see here in Seattle ...
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| 3 Container ships and a Ro-Ro A Ro-Ro is a Roll On, Roll Off ship that carries vehicles. The Container ship in the lower right has a very light load. |
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| Garth Foss Tug Foss Tug Company has a large fleet of tugs. Maybe the largest fleet in the Port, but I am not sure. The Garth Foss is one of the largest tugs in the fleet. |
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| Three passenger vessels and a refrigerated cargo ship at Pier 90 |
Skies ...
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| Looking across Puget Sound, late afternoon. March 2nd |
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| Sunset, February 17th 5:21PM |
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| Sunset, February 23rd 5:38PM |
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| Just after sunset February 23rd 5:39PM |
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| About an hour after sunset. The Moon, Jupiter, and Mars aligned in the western sky. February 23, 2023 6:31PM |
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| Just before sunset February 24th, 5:34PM |
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| From the walk, looking East, at dawn. March 9th 6:29AM |
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| There are a couple of spots on the walk where I get a good look at the Space Needle. Of course, the view varies with the weather. |
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| Can't resist adding the way Mt Rainier looked on March 7th about 7AM It is 14,410 feet tall (4,392 meters) — the tallest singular peak in the lower 48 states. |
Iditarod 2023 ...
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod, is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March.
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| The "Last Great Race" started last weekend. The "Official" race started Sunday, March 5, at 2PM Alaska Time. As of Friday, March 10, about 2PM Alaska Time most of the mushers are around the halfway mark. The race is 1000 miles (1,600 km) from Willow to Nome, Alaska. The photo above is a screenshot from the Iditarod GPS page. All of the mushers are equipped with tracking devices. Leaderboard is on the left side of the screen. |
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| There are 33 mushers in this year's race. Iditarod Website |
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| David Poyzer is the Official Race Photographer His photos are wonderful. Check out his website. |
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| This is how they get around at Rainy Pass Lodge in winter. Rainy Pass is one of the check points on the Iditarod Trail. Rainy Pass Lodge |
Closing thought ...
Failure is the mother of success.
Ancient Chinese proverb.
